


Through Sorrow and Fog, Arthur is the key

by Captain_CloudWolf



Category: Merlin (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:11:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8411452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_CloudWolf/pseuds/Captain_CloudWolf
Summary: Through the years, Merlin lost all hope of Arthur coming back.  Magic would not let him go, so Merlin lost his mind.  Now Arthur has to help Merlin remember a reason for living.





	1. Before Arthur returned.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic, and I'm not sure how it's going to go. Updates will not be regular since I hate editing and I want to edit my work before I put it out for everyone to read. I would love to hear from everyone, good and bad. Hopefully you guys like it, and hopefully it will be good. Have fun reading!

Merlin stayed.  Arthur left and Merlin stayed.  He watched the boat sail away and knew the life he had lived was over.  But he picked himself up and went back to Camelot.  It was all Merlin had of Arthur now, the place he had loved.  So Merlin stayed and watched over Camelot, over Albion until not even Merlin could keep it together anymore.  After Camelot fell Merlin wandered, looking for something to do and some purpose to his life.  He had no idea when Arthur would be back, if he would be back at all.  He stopped aging at 23, but could use his magic to make himself age along with everyone else.  Then he would “die” and move somewhere else. 

 

Merlin worked every job he could think of, did everything that interested him until there was nothing left that was interesting.  There were days when Merlin sat and did nothing, just stared at a glass of water in front of him, thinking of Arthur.  Until one day, Merlin realized he could no longer remember Arthur’s voice.  It had been around four centuries, and Merlin was scared.  He spent a week in isolation alternating between crying, shouting, using his magic to try and bring Arthur back, and using his magic to destroy things.  He was the only one left now, even Kilgarrah had died a century back.  Eventually Merlin went back to his lives, where he tried and failed to find things that would hold his attention for longer than a year.  After so long, a year was nothing.  Five centuries later and Merlin could no longer remember Arthur’s face.  Three more centuries and Merlin couldn’t remember any of his friends.  He had forgotten Arthur, all of his friends, his reason for being alive.  Suicide didn’t work for him.  Magic just brought him back.  Merlin was so far gone in his loneliness that he didn’t even notice when he stopped using magic.

 

He lived as an old man, no need for company, no need for food.  Even when Merlin gave up on magic, it had not given up on him.  The world began to speed up, more interesting things were invented, things like airplanes and cell phones.  Merlin didn’t notice.  His neighbors noticed Merlin and put him in a nursing home, but then he was forgotten about as magic hid that Merlin didn’t age.  He was treated like another patient, but no one remembered his name or his face.  Merlin didn’t care.  He was lost to misery.  He had no memory of his magic, why he was here, why he didn’t age, or why he didn’t die.  All he knew was he was sad, and something was missing.  Something important. 

 

One day, Merlin awoke with a jolt.  Something was different, something he needed to remember.  Merlin strained his mind as to why today he would be jolted awake from his wheelchair but he couldn’t remember and his mind was soon lost to the clouds of centuries once again. 

 

_Arthur_

 

Arthur bounced on his heels, waiting for the bus to pick him up.  Today was the day his grade was going to the nursing home! He had been waiting all year, and had been practicing his chorus songs like every other first grader in his class.  The others weren’t as excited about singing in front of a bunch of old people, but Arthur was.  It was his first concert! Plus, old people always had the best stories to tell.  The bus stopped at his school, and the grade piled on, with Arthur at the front.  He had always been a natural leader, though exactly where he was leading his friends had gotten Arthur into trouble already in his short life.  Right behind Arthur was Leon, his oldest friend.  Then was Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot, Elyon, the rest of the class, and all the way at the back, Morgana and Gwen.  Arthur would have been happier with Gwen at the front, but Morgana wanted to be at the back and Morgana got what she wanted.  Gwaine noticed Arthur looking at Gwen and immediately started teasing him, ignoring Arthur’s protests of girls being gross all the way to the nursing home. 

           

The song went perfectly, and afterwards the teacher told all the kids to go talk to the people in the nursing home, reminding them to be well behaved for she was watching them.  Arthur was drawn to an old man in the corner, sitting in a wheelchair and staring at the wall. 

“Sir? Um Mister Sir? My name is Arthur.  What’s your name?”

“Do you have a name? Mister Sir????”

 

Arthur impatiently reached out to tap the man, and when he did he felt a shock run through his body.  He jumped back and ran to grab a nurse, but when Arthur brought the nurse over she didn’t seem to notice the man. 

“Oh yes, that’s one of our patients.” She said.

“But what is his name? I felt a shock, is he okay?”

“His name? I guess I don’t know.  Oh well.” 

 

With that, the nurse walked away.  Arthur was surprised, he thought nursing homes were supposed to take care of old people.  He wanted to go back to the man, but his class was leaving without him.

“Come on Arthur, the bus is leaving,” shouted Gwen.

“Get over here,” Morgana ordered. 

Arthur turned and ran back to his teacher, the old man forgotten for the moment.

 

Years passed and Arthur’s class came back to the same nursing home in 8th grade.  Arthur was surprised to see the old man still sitting in a wheelchair, staring at the wall.  He hadn’t aged a day.  It seemed like Arthur was the only one who really saw him, noticed how alone and sad he was.  Arthur sat down next to the man and started to talk to him, well, more like at him. 

“Hello again, I barely remember you.  I saw you, in 1st grade.  You haven’t changed.  Would you like to hear about my day?”

Arthur glanced at the man, and started to talk. 

 

From that day on, Arthur was back every day.  He told the man about his day or his weekend.  He asked him for help on his homework, advice on football practice, how to deal with his dad being so overbearing and controlling.  He told the man about his mother dying when Arthur was born, about his crush on Gwen, how his half-sister seemed to hate him.  Arthur eventually learned that the man’s name was Merlin, though it took almost a year of going to the nursing home before anyone remembered the man’s name.  He told Merlin about the trouble he had gotten into with Gwaine and Leon, the parties he had thrown with all of his other friends.  Merlin learned about Arthur’s first kiss in 9th grade, and his heartbreak in 11th when Gwen left him for Lancelot.  Arthur was at the nursing home after his first win as the high school quarterback, and Arthur still made it to see Merlin when he broke his collarbone in sophomore year.  Arthur filled out college applications at the home, and Merlin was the first one to know when Arthur got into the college he wanted.  It wasn’t Uther’s first choice, but it was Arthur’s favorite and he was going there. 

Arthur was going to double major in business and photography.  He couldn’t shake Uther’s influence just yet, but Arthur was going to be a photographer.  That had always been his dream, and now college was letting him chase after it.  The only problem was that Arthur had to be away from Uther, which meant away from Merlin as well. 

 

“Merlin? I’m leaving now.  I have to go away from a few months, but then I’ll be back, I promise.”

For the first time, it looked like Merlin actually saw him.

“Arthur?” he whispered, “Please don’t leave me again” he begged.  “I can’t lose you again, I can’t.” Tears were streaming down his face

 

Arthur was torn between joy that Merlin had seen him and worry over leaving him like this.

“Shh, it’s okay I’ll be back, I promise I’ll be back.  And what do you mean again? I never left.”

“Please don’t leave, I can’t, I can’t”

“Merlin the bus will leave without me, I have to go.  Don’t worry, it’s okay, I’ll be back.  I didn’t think you even noticed me, you haven’t even looked up ever since I’ve been here.  It’s okay, I promise.”

 

No matter what Arthur said, Merlin didn’t stop crying, and didn’t stop muttering “I can’t”.  Finally, Arthur just had to leave. 

“I hope you will be okay my friend” he said quietly.

“What was that?” that bus driver barked.

“Nothing, just worried about a friend.”

“Well get moving, the bus doesn’t wait for you. Busy schedule.”


	2. A college campus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin follows Arthur to college and has to figure out what he wants to do with his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am actually terrible at deciding where chapters should be, and how long they should be. This is what I have edited and forced my friend to edit, when I have more that isn't shit I will post it. Thank you for the kudos, but I love comments even more. Good or bad, anything helps! Again, this is my first fanfic. Any advice is good advice. But anyway, enjoy!

_Merlin_

“Arthur? Please don’t leave me again.” The words were out before Merlin even knew what he was saying.  He had forgotten how long it had been since he said anything, since he felt anything.  Yet here was this blond boy telling Merlin he was leaving, and it somehow pulled this immense sadness from inside of him.  All Merlin knew was he had lost Arthur before, and he wasn’t losing him again.  The magic that had been lying dormant inside of him exploded out, freezing the world as Merlin struggled to figure out what was going on and what had happened.  He still had no memories aside from a little boy growing up next to his chair.  What had happened? His magic happily supplied Merlin with a working knowledge of 2016, and all the information a 23-year-old millennial would need.  Merlin took a few more minutes to sort through the facts that he had magic, he was 23 again, and Arthur was leaving.  Merlin ran out to the bus, found a seat in the back, and unfroze time.  All he had was his magic, and a haphazard plan that he would go to the same college Arthur would.  Merlin couldn’t say why Arthur was so important to him, but he knew he was and he needed to be around him as much as possible.  Arthur was the key to everything. 

 

_Arthur_

The bus ride was long and boring, and Arthur was honestly surprised by how upset he was over Merlin’s behavior.  What had he meant?  Arthur had never left Merlin, not until now.  And why was Arthur’s absence so upsetting to Merlin? Why did Arthur himself care for the old man so much? All these questions swirled around in Arthur’s head, with no clear answer to any of them.  College, however, was enough of a change to throw those worries out the window for a few hours.  The bustle of moving in, meeting his roommate, and signing up for classes was a welcome distraction.  The only odd thing was that every so often Arthur would see a black-haired man out of the corner of his eye, but when Arthur turned to look, the man would be gone. 

 

_Merlin_

Merlin spent days following Arthur around, wondering what he was going to do next.  He realized that now that he was sort of back to himself, he needed to eat and sleep.  Thankfully, no one used parts of the library, and Merlin could curl up on the floor out of the way.  After three nights of sleeping on the floor, when Merlin woke up one of the teachers was reaching for a book on the top shelf and as Merlin watched, the ladder started to wobble.  Before Merlin could get there regularly, the ladder tipped and the teacher fell.  Merlin froze time and moved a couch underneath the falling teacher, then as he unfroze time he started to run out the door.

“Stop!” the teacher shouted behind him.  Merlin winced and turned to look at him. 

“My dear boy, you saved my life.” The teacher said. 

“No, that, that was luck.  That chair just happened to be there as you were….”

 

He trailed off as the teacher merely raised one eyebrow and walked away.  “Come.” He said.  Merlin turned towards the teacher and followed warily as the teacher headed towards his office.  “My name is Gaius, and I am a teacher of magic here.  And you, my dear boy, have more latent ability in your pinky finger then many wizards have in their entire body.  You froze time without saying a single word.  Do you know how impressive that is?”

“No…”  Merlin looked confused as he answered. 

“How long have you been able to do that?”  Gaius still sounded astounded. 

“Well, that’s kind of a complicated question, you see: I don’t remember.”  Merlin said the last part quietly, with his head hanging low as he tried to hide the tears in his eyes. 

“You don’t remember?”  Gaius asked gently, noticing the change in Merlin’s demeanor. 

“No, I actually don’t remember anything about my life.  I remember someone named Arthur, and well, it’s a long story.”  Merlin was still frustrated and upset at his inability to remember his past, and was searching for a reason to not have to explain himself. 

“Well, come in to my office, I have time.” They had reached Gaius’s office and Gaius opened the door for Merlin, indicating that he should come inside and sit down. 

 

Two hours passed, during which Merlin explained what he remembered so far, his reason for coming here, and the strange pull he felt towards Arthur.  

“Besides Arthur, what do you want to do with your life?” Gaius asked. 

“I would like to learn how to control my magic.”  Merlin looked shy as he said this.  He still had the strong urge to keep his magic a secret, which Merlin theorized was a faint memory from his past. 

“I can certainly help you with that,” Gaius responded with a smile, “though apparently, the magic users have been dying down over the past few centuries.  Recently though, within the last five years I have seen more of them come through my doors.  But outside of magic, what would you like to learn about? You need a day job and a proper reason for a scholarship.”

“I don’t know, I haven’t really been awake long enough to think about anything other than Arthur and magic.”   The thought of anything other than Arthur was foreign to Merlin, Arthur was Merlin’s reason for living. 

“Well, you are here now.  You might want to think about that.”   Gaius looked as if he could see what Merlin was thinking, and he did not like Merlin’s train of thought.  Gaius wanted Merlin to be independent and have interests other than magic and Arthur. 

“Okay, I will.  Thank you, Gaius.”  This time Merlin was serious, realizing how much Gias had helped him. 

“Oh and Merlin? Please be careful.  Magic is not accepted in this time, though also not noticed.”  Gaius’s warning was serious, as if he had seen terrible things happen to people who showed they had magic. 

“I’m always careful” was Merlin’s cocky response.  With that, he left the office to explore the campus without Arthur. 

 

_Arthur_

 

Arthur’s roommate was a slob.  He didn’t go to classes, he kept his room gross and he partied every night.  Every night he would stumble into their room drunk off his ass and wake Arthur up with his tripping over everything.  Arthur had nothing against parties, he liked to get turned up on Fridays and Saturdays, but every night was too much.  Arthur needed to keep his grades at perfect A’s if he was to keep his father off his back, and Arthur needed the space to take his photography classes.  He had always been a hard worker with a very strict schedule.  Classes, homework and studying in between classes, more homework after his final classes, and sleep by midnight.  But Vincent kept disrupting that, and his schoolwork was not going as well as Arthur had hoped.  Arthur had already gotten three emails hinting that he should drop his photography classes and it was only two and a half weeks into the semester! Finally, Arthur went to see his RA (resident advisor) with his complaint, and within a few days Arthur was scheduled to get a new room assignment. 

 

_Merlin_

Merlin sat in the middle of the mall enjoying the sunlight on his face, the grass under his body and the wind on his face.  It had been a long time since he had felt the sun, and he was enjoying laying there.  As Merlin started to fall asleep, he felt something brush up against his foot what woke him up.  Merlin spread out his magic and felt a small creature trying to bite his shoelace.  He cracked an eye open to see a very small black squirrel trying to eat his shoe. 

“Oh you poor thing, you must be starving! Here, have some of my food.” Merlin carefully sat up to reach for his backpack, but the little squirrel ran behind a tree in fear. 

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” Merlin tossed a small piece of bread close to the squirrel, which he grabbed for and ran back behind the tree.  Merlin reached out with his magic to try and convince the little guy that he wouldn’t hurt him, and he had more food if he would come closer.  The little black squirrel seemed to nod and walked up to Merlin’s hand.  Merlin kept very still as the squirrel carefully started eating the sandwich.  It seemed like Merlin’s magic had worked too well though, because every squirrel within a twenty-foot radius had come running up to Merlin.  Apparently, they were all much less timid than the black squirrel because they all started chattering at Merlin, demanding they be fed as well. 

 

“No, I don’t have food for all of you, please you’re attracting attention” Merlin tried to communicate but if they understood they didn’t listen.  Merlin was waving his hands around, trying to convince the squirrels to leave him alone.  As he was doing this, several people started noticing the commotion.  One person started taking a vine, and one of the other people started walking towards Merlin to offer help.  The person walking towards Merlin was Gwen.  Merlin noticed the people watching him and used his magic to tie Gwen’s shoelaces together and make the other guy drop his phone.  The black squirrel who had been hiding next to Merlin’s leg suddenly stood up and started chattering back at the other squirrels.  They all looked suitably chastened and quickly ran back to wherever they had come from.  Merlin looked down at the little squirrel.  “Thank you” he said with his mind, though much less powerfully then before.  The little guy looked at the ground, then suddenly jumped into Merlin’s hood on the sweatshirt he was wearing.  _I guess you are staying with me, huh._  Merlin thought.  The only response was the squirrel walking up to sit on Merlin’s shoulder.  _What should I call you? Chip? Whiskers? River?_ On the last name, the squirrel started chattering excitedly.  _River it is.  Welcome I guess?_ River huffed out a breath making Merlin’s neck tickle, and went to sleep in Merlin’s hood.  By this point Gwen had untied her shoelaces and walked up to Merlin to see if he was alright. 

 

“Are you okay? That was a lot of squirrels back there.” Gwen asked, looking concerned. 

‘Yeah,” Merlin responded.  “They all wanted a piece of my sandwich.”

“How did you get them to come so close to you?” I’m Gwen, by the way.”  Gwen was curious, wanting to know what Merlin differently.  She always wants the squirrels to come closer to her, but they are always too afraid. 

“I’m not sure,” Merlin responded, looking slightly uncomfortable.  “Maybe they just like me?”

“Maybe they are not intimidated by you? Not that you aren’t intimidating.  I’m sure you could be intimidating if you wanted to, you just aren’t very big or buff.  I mean, you’re very fit! Skinniness looks good on you.  Well, I’m sure it looks good on anyone but I tend to like the big and buff type.  Oh god why did I say that.” Gwen covered her mouth with her hands, horrified that she had rambled on for so long.

“Um, thanks? I’m so glad you don’t find me intimidating.  And I could totally be big and buff if I wanted to.” Merlin struck a pose, curling his arms to make his muscles bulge.  At Gwen’s skeptical look he collapsed back onto the grass.  “I just don’t want to.” He said.  With that, Gwen and Merlin exploded in laughter and they both knew they would be good friends.  The movement of Merlin’s laughter woke up River, and he poked his head out of the sweatshirt hood, planning on telling Merlin off for waking him up.  When he spotted Gwen though, he squeaked and hid back in Merlin’s sweatshirt. 

“Oh my god, is that a squirrel in your hood??!!!” Gwen’s voice got higher and higher as she approached the end of that sentence until she was practically squealing. 

“Yes!” Merlin proudly pronounced.  “His name is River, and he is currently really shy and malnourished, but when I think I can convince him to be less shy, I promise you will be the first person I tell.”

Gwen sighed.  “I guess that is the best I can hope for.  Now, time to exchange phone numbers!”

Merlin winced, knowing the coming response.  “Um, I don’t have a cell phone.”

Gwen’s shriek of “What????” could be heard halfway across campus. 


	3. A New Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finds out who his new roommate is, and worries about the squirrel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for taking this long to post this, honestly, I just didn't want to edit what I had written. But a recent breakup made me look at my life differently, and I realized I wanted to finish something worthwhile. I love writing, and I had put it down for much too long. As always, thank you for your kudos and reads, comments are always appreciated.

“Is that a squirrel in your sweatshirt?” Gaius asked, looking astonished at the little tail peeking out. 

“Yes?”  Merlin answered this hesitantly, knowing the reaction Gwen had to River. 

“Where did…... Never mind, you need to pick classes to take, a major to work for and I might have a room for you to sleep in instead of crashing on a couch in my office, which is not allowed by the university, by the way.”  Gaius started on a long rant about schoolwork and classes, while Merlin listened with an increasingly confused look on his face.  “I’ve put you down for undecided, so how about you take these tests so I can see what math class you should be in.”  As Gaius continued talking Merlin quickly scribbled down answers to the math test Gaius had thrown in front of him.  “I think taking a chemistry class, English class, math class of some sort and a history class of your choosing would be beneficial to your college career.  And of course, a magic class, what are they calling those again? Right, applied theory.  That should do quite nicely.  Now, how did you score? A 97 percent? Alright, calculus one should fit your skill level.  Have you looked at that online list yet?”  Merlin had been thinking about which elective he wanted to take for some time now, and most of them looked boring, but one had stood out to him. 

“I think I want to learn about King Arthur.”

“Really?”  Gaius looked surprised.  “Okay, I’ll sign you up.  Lucky you, they have one seat open.  Here is your schedule and here is your room number.  I assume in the past two weeks you have been familiarizing yourself with all the campus buildings?” Gaius asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well.” Merlin looked a little uncomfortable as he did not want to tell Gaius that he had been wandering around campus without looking at any of the building names. 

Gaius sighed.  “Here’s a map.  You will be living in Elkton Hall.”

“Thank you for helping me Gaius.  I’m not sure what I would do without you.”  Merlin looked overwhelmed by how fast everything had been moving. 

“You’d be fine, now go. And thank you, my dear boy, for saving my life.”  Gaius watched Merlin leave with affection showing on his face.  He liked the boy, and was already starting to think of the boy as a son.  _Hmm._ Gaius thought to himself.  _I would not expect to be feeling so strongly about Merlin after just meeting him.  Maybe this has something to do with his mysterious past?_   With that thought Gaius shook his head and went back to the essays he needed to grade. 

 

_Arthur_

 

Arthur liked living without a roommate.  He was a little lonely, but he was used too lonely.  His father had expected him to hold himself aloof from everyone, even Leon.  It was only Gwaine who had started to kick him off his high horse in seventh grade and make it possible to have real friends, but now Gwaine, Leon and Lancelot were too busy with football to spend with Arthur.  Arthur liked football well enough, but he had never loved it.  That had always been Uther.  Even Gwen and Morgana were too busy to spend time with him.  Morgana was always studying with this group of people she met from “Applied Theory”, whatever that was, and Gwen was learning to ballroom dance.  Somehow, she made time for Lance, though to be fair he went ballroom dancing with her when it fit in with football.  The problem was, Arthur was still shy.  He had a hard time connecting with people, and when he got nervous he went back to acting like he was better then everyone.  It was an easy persona to hide behind, especially with Uther as his father.  Uther was the top businessman in the country and he never let Arthur forget it.  He ran the most expensive law firm, with cut-throat lawyers who didn’t care about their customers’ lives, only the money they got from it.  Most of their work made Arthur sick, but Uther was expecting him to take over the business one day, so an undergraduate degree in business it was.  But Arthur’s loneliness was about to change. 

 

“Um, hello? My name is Merlin Emrys and I was told this was to be my room for the rest of the semester, is anyone here…YOU.” Merlin practically jumped out of his shoes when he saw Arthur. 

“Hello.  Do I know you?” Arthur asked politely. 

“Well, no, but, um, I … will be your roommate?” Merlin stammered.

“Yes, you’ve covered that.  You said your name was Merlin?” Arthur still had a look of polite detachment but now he looked slightly curious. 

“Yeess, why?” Merlin looked nervous. 

“Nothing.  I just have a friend with that name.”  Arthur’s shoulders slumped slightly as he remembered how he had left his friend.  God, he hoped his old friend was okay. 

“Oh. Um.  I’ve got a last name?” Merlin still looked flabbergasted that Arthur was his roommate and Arthur was beginning to suspect that Merlin wasn’t quite right in the head. 

“Great. Congratulations.  Wait, is that a squirrel?” Arthur did not like squirrels, and they did not like him.  However, fear was a weakness, and Uther never allowed it. 

“Yes! His name is River.  I found him, and he was starving.  I’m going to keep him with me and take him everywhere I go!  Merlin was starting to get more excited as he planned out how he was going to take care of River. 

“I could make him a little nest to hang from my loft bed, and I ca-“ Arthur cut Merlin off, loudly saying

“The University says no pets! Do you want us both to get thrown out?” Now Arthur felt even worse.  He feared squirrels, he needed the scholarship he had, and he could not get caught with a squirrel living in his dorm.  If his father found out what he was planning, the scholarship would be the only money he had left.  Arthur was already scared of how he was going to get the money to pay for the rest of his college once he switched majors, he could not lose his scholarship within the first week of school.  He might as well go back home if he did, and that was something Arthur could not except. 

“No. Pets.” Even to himself, Arthur sounded angrier then he meant to be.  Merlin heard the anger, and started to get defensive himself. 

“Damn, you don’t have to be such a prat about it! And he’s not a pet.  He’s a wild animal who happened to decide to hang out with me.”  That descriptor was even worse, in Arthur’s opinion.

“What did you call me?”  Arthur couldn’t believe his ears.  _This idiot student had no idea how hard it was for me to get here,_ Arthur thought to himself. 

“A prat.  Because you are one.”  Merlin responded indignantly. 

 “Do know who I am?”  Arthur practically shouted this at Merlin.  He needed to get Merlin to leave the damn squirrel outside, and Arthur didn’t really know what else to do. 

“No, should I?”  Merlin asked cockily. 

“Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon.  His lawyers could sue you into oblivion!” Arthur felt a little guilty for using his father’s name, but Merlin was being a jerk, and was threatening everything Arthur had tried to build.  He deserved it. 

“I’m sorry,” Merlin said appearing to think about his words.   

‘I didn’t realize you were a royal prat.”  Merlin finished sarcastically. 

“Ha! He’s got you figured out good princess.  I’m Gwaine, by the way.”  Gwaine drawled with an obvious look up and down Merlin.  He winked and said

“Don’t worry, he talks mean, but he’s really just a fluffy puppy.  Isn’t that right princess? Gwaine switched from ogling Merlin to look at Arthur when he finished talking.

“How long where you waiting there?” Arthur asked with a sign. 

“Long enough to enjoy that spectacular argument between you and your new bestie.  Oh and you will be besties since you can’t switch out like you did with your last roommate.  Smart move, that.” Gwaine responded with a grin, looking like he enjoyed the previous argument. 

“You switched out of your last room because you didn’t like your roommate???”  Merlin looked horrified. 

“No, Merlin stop it’s more complicated than that!” Arthur responded harshly.   
“More complicated my ass! Why do you treat people like you are better than them?” Merlin shot back.

“Oooh! Right in the balls! And don’t worry sweetheart, he’s always been like that.  He needs someone like me or you to keep him honest.”  Gwaine cut in with a sly grin aimed at Merlin.

“Gwaine! I would appreciate you not getting involved right now! I am trying to fix things with my new roommate.” Arthur took a deep breath, and turned to Merlin. 

“I feel like we got off to the wrong foot.  I am Arthur, pet squirrels are fine if the University does not find out, and I will try to be less aloof.  Happy?”  Arthur asked through gritted teeth.   
“Well, it’s a start.”  Merlin grinned a blinding goofy smile that hit Arthur like a ton of bricks.  _Damn.  He’s gorgeous when he smiles._  Arthur thought.  He glanced at Gwaine and noticed the stars in his eyes as well.  _Shit.  That gorgeous man is my roommate._


End file.
